Dating on Tinder can make you lose self-esteem

Are you afraid of finding "matches" on the popular dating app Tinder leading to developing low self-esteem? You are not alone as a new study suggests that users of the popular app feel more negative about themselves than non-users.

According to research, all users appear to have more negative perception of body image, resulting in less self-esteem than those who do not use the app and male users especially appear to have lower levels of self-esteem than females.

"Tinder users reported having lower levels of satisfaction with their faces and bodies and having lower levels of self-worth than the men and women who did not use Tinder," said Jessica Strübel from University of North Texas.

During the study, both male and female participants reported less satisfaction with their bodies and looks, compared to non-users, said Strübel but only male Tinder users reported lower levels of self-esteem.

"We found that being actively involved with Tinder, regardless of the user's gender, was associated with body dissatisfaction, body shame, body monitoring, internalisation of societal expectations of beauty, comparing oneself physically to others and reliance on media for information on appearance and attractiveness," explained Strübel.

While the study was primarily aimed toward women and their perception of objectification and self-esteem, the results suggest that men are just as affected by exploitation and low self-esteem as women if not more.
"Although current body image interventions primarily have been directed toward women, our findings suggest that men are equally and negatively affected by their involvement in social media," Strübel added.

The research was recently presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association in the US. Tinder is a dating app available on mobile devices with a reported 50 million active users.